Farnham RFC staged a memorable Sevens Tournament at the club on Saturday, with nearly 350 players representing 28 teams taking part in a spectacular competition played in superb conditions. The teams involved came from both local clubs and more distant venues, with some sides playing as traditional club sides and some playing as groups of friends together. In addition to organising some superb weather, the organising committee deserve great praise for managing to schedule 63 matches into the day on only three pitches, with the finals running exactly to time at the end of the day.

This year the 28 team entry saw 16 teams competing in four pools of four teams in the Main competition, whilst the remaining 12 teams competed in four pools of three teams in the Social competition. At the end of the pool phases teams played knockout matches dependant on their pool finishing positions.

In the main competition, last year’s winners the Chiefs (based on SEME Bordon) lost out 14 – 23 to new entrants Kamikaze, comprising a number of players from Canterbury in Kent, whilst in the other semi final The Archers from Cardiff University defeated Toby Comley’s Magnificent 7 team 21 – 5. The quality of play in both matches was very high, and resulted in an excellent final in which the Archers triumphed 26 – 14 to take the honours.

The improved standard of play was evidenced by the fact that the plate competition was won by the Riders, who had previously won the main competition.  In this final local boy Jon Trickey and his team simply had too much for debutant team DTZ, running out 24 – 5 winners in another good match.

Whilst the standard of play was very high in the main competition, the social competition also had some fine moments, and some good bonhomie between the players. After a difficult season it was good to see two Farnham teams win silverware, with L’Escargot (Farnham Vets) winning the beer competition 28 -17 against the students from the Farnham Art College, and Le Tossiers winning the Bowl final 20 – 0 against Brinto’s Boyz from Dorking. In the Vase final the Fulham Phantoms narrowly beat local boys Vince Wiltshire and Steve Clarke playing for the Mummy Returns.

Throughout the day a team of helpers worked tirelessly at the organiser’s table, behind the bar, on the bar-b-q, and performing other jobs including car parking and clearing up. St John’s ambulance provided their expertise, and with so many players competing at a good level it was no surprise that they were kept fairly busy throughout the day. It is also important to reflect on the quality of refereeing from the many officials who officiated throughout the day, and one of the most pleasing aspects of the Farnham competition is the competitive but good natured banter that exists between officials and players alike.